‘Flint Town’ On Netflix: Everything You Need To Know About The Flint Chief of Police

Flint Town, Netflix‘s docuseries chronicling a year behind the scenes of the Flint Police Department in the poverty-stricken Michigan community, is an unflinching look at a city still reeling from its water crisis. Over the course of the series’ eight episodes, we meet a series of police officers (there is a dire need for a bigger budget and more resources) and citizens, and as a result, a pretty thorough, alarming portrait of the city is painted.

The position of Police Chief is a hard one to hold down in a city so ill-equipped to protect its citizens, and with a shakeup mid-series, it might be hard to keep track. So who is the Flint Chief of Police and how are they involved with Flint Town? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is the Flint Chief of Police?

When we first are introduced to Flint Town, the Flint Chief of Police is James Tolbert, who is in his second year as chief. After an election shakeup, however, some six months later, we meet Mayor Karen Weaver and Chief Timothy Johnson, who we stick with for the remainder of the series. Johnson has now served as Flint Chief of Police since 2016.

What’s Chief Johnson’s background?

According to The New Yorker, Johnson “preached zero tolerance” and sought to crack down on minor offenses and enforced “proactive policing” in an attempt to stop crime before it happens. He also apparently faced controversy for not being a certified police officer when he was appointed in February 2016, having originally retired from the department in 2009.

How does Chief Johnson feel about Flint Town?

Mayor Weaver and Chief Johnson recently released a statement regarding the series, and it’s largely positive, if an attempt to make people aware that they really are trying their best in Flint despite their struggles with staffing:

“It is no secret that we are understaffed and operating with very limited resources… However, I know firsthand that Flint police officers do what we have to do to effectively police this city and keep the residents safe, using tactics that are necessary and within the guidelines of the law. The camera crew was brought on as part of an agreement that was made under the previous administration and the former police chief…

When I came onboard, the crew had already been working with the Flint Police Department for over a year or so. I went ahead and let the filming proceed because I felt it was important to show how the community felt when the man-made water disaster occurred, how the residents were impacted and how the Flint Police Department policed through this historic time, given the limited amount of resources we had to work with.”

Is the Flint Police Department still understaffed?

It is, and the water crisis is still not solved, but but Mayor Weaver is hopeful. “We know this series does not tell the whole story. It does not focus on the amazing turn around and recovery that is starting to happen in the city,” Weaver said. “So we all must help get the word out about how resilient the people of Flint are and that good things that are happening in Flint.”